


the one where dan pretends to date phil to save him from embarassment

by johnlocked_221B



Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Eventual Romance, Eventual Smut, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Friends to Lovers, Getting Together, Happy Ending, M/M, Mutual Pining, Slow Build, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-10
Updated: 2018-01-17
Packaged: 2019-01-25 15:59:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 21,976
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12535580
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/johnlocked_221B/pseuds/johnlocked_221B
Summary: Phil was meant to be going on a week long holiday with his family, and finally introduce his girlfriend to them. But as Phil has the luck of a black cat walking under a ladder on Friday 13, said girlfriend breaks up with him the night before their planned trip. Devastated, and scared to tell his family of his failure to settle down again, his best friend Dan offers to pretend to be his partner for the holiday- but little did Phil know about Dan's not-so-subtle 8 year crush on him.





	1. A Date and a Proposal

"I'm heading out now, Dan." Phil shouted from the bottom of the stairs in his and Dan's apartment. Dan barely looked up from his laptop's screen, shouting a quick reply to his friend in a monotonous voice. The door opened, then clicked shut, leaving Dan in the house by himself. He sighed.

Phil Lester was meeting his girlfriend for dinner, and Dan hated everything about it. He hated the restaurant she insisted they went to for their noodles, he hated the fact that his best friend was spending more time with a girl than with him, but above all he hated the girlfriend herself, Sara. There was nothing really to dislike about her beautiful brown hair, or her slim body shape, or her sense of humour that matched Phil's too well. She liked food, spent time playing video games with Phil, and was into the same movies as him. The thing Dan hated about her wasn't anything about her personality, it was that her personality was  _too_ good to hate. She was good for Phil, as he was good for her, and he hated the fact that it was her dating Phil, and not him.

Of course, Dan tried his hardest not to be the possessive best friend that gave Sara the evils every time she walked into the room. He tried his best to be civil, to get on with her, because after a while had passed, he realised that he may have to put up with her for a while longer. She was genuinely nice to Dan, even if there were times where she herself acted possessive over Phil, but Dan couldn't get over his jealousy.

How was it that he had been in love with Phil for 8 years, yet some stranger Phil met on a dating app could become his girlfriend in little over a week? With every passing date, he could feel Phil becoming more and more distant, spending more time with her than Dan. And now, it had gotten to the point of no return.

Tomorrow, Phil and Sara would be setting off on a week long trip to meet his family. For the first few months of their relationship, Phil hadn't mentioned anything to his family about Sara, but when he recently let slip that he was seeing someone on the phone to his mother, she had spent the proceeding thirty minutes gushing over the prospect of her boy finally settling down. At the end of the call, Phil had been told to invite her on their upcoming holiday with them, and meet the Lesters.

Despite the constant pestering they received, Phil and Sara had agreed not to tell them too much about it all until they saw them in person. Kathryn, Phil's mum, was traditional in the sense that she wanted to meet the person her son was dating in person before hearing anything about them, so that she could form her own opinion on her. Martyn had congratulated them, but when he heard that they'd been dating for two months without telling them (and that Phil continued to refuse to give them any details), he had scoffed and joked a lot about her, telling Phil that he must've made her up to make him feel less lonely.

The plan had been for Sara to meet at Dan and Phil's flat, and then they would go to the airport together on Sunday morning. However, Phil had got a text from her mid-Saturday asking if he wanted to meet up for dinner that night instead.

"Hey, do you think I should ask her over for the night, instead of making her go back home after the meal?" Phil had asked Dan. The truth was, there was nothing Dan would hate more than listening to everything Phil and Sara would do that night through their thin bedroom walls, but he couldn't exactly have told Phil this.

"Yeah, go for it." He replied back lazily. Phil got her reply back in a few moments.

"She said maybe." He told Dan. "Well, don't wait up for me anyway later, we're going out quite late."

"Wasn't gonna." Dan mumbled, as Phil went to his room to get ready and didn't hear his reply. Dan was cranky, and felt justified in his bad mood. He and Phil  _had_ been planning on staying up late, having a movie night and spending some time together before Phil left for a week. It seemed this wasn't going to happen now, as Phil's girlfriend was obviously more important- forgive Dan for being  _slightly_ bitter.

 

Dan was on his fifth episode of anime, barely two hours into the evening since Phil left, when the door opened quietly. If the TV hadn't been at a quiet part, he probably wouldn't have heard it, or have heard the near-silent footsteps.

"Phil?" He shouted, as he paused the TV. No reply. Frowning, he opened the door to go see if his friend was there with Sara, but was greeted by an even worse sight (if that was possible).

Phil was almost at the top step, hunched over and looking at the floor, his face red and splotchy. Dan realised a second later that he was crying, silent tears falling down his face, as his friend looked up at him. He wasn't able to meet Dan's eyes.

"Phil..." Dan repeated, much more softly this time. Immediately, he stepped forwards and enveloped Phil in a massive hug, rubbing his back as he began to sob. As his best friend broke down in his arms, Dan supported him and his mind began to whirr. What had happened to make Phil break down like this in front of him? He could only think of a few things, and all of them centred over one girl...

After what felt like hours, Phil pulled out of the hug and began to take off his shoes and coat. Dan watched on, awkwardly as he didn't quite know what to do to help.

"Ph-" He began, but was cut off.

"Don't, please. I need..." Phil spoke, voice low and quiet. "Can we go sit in my room?"

Dan found himself nodding, offering to make a cup of tea or hot chocolate, or anything to help cheer his friend up, but Phil declined them all. They made their way up slowly to Phil's room, where upon entering, Phil promptly threw himself onto his bed, face first. Dan followed him, perching onto the edge of the bed while trying to get Phil to sit up.

"What happened? Vent to me, I'm here for you." Dan calmly suggested, and Phil began, slowly to begin with.

"I, uh, I got to the restaurant, and Sa-Sara was already there, sitting at one of the tables. She seemed, I don't know, different, like something was on her mind." Dan nodded along with Phil, his arm still across his shoulder from where he had forced him to sit up. "We ate first, talking together but something seemed wrong. It was half way through that she brought it up. She- she told me..."

He trailed off, eyes filling with tears again, and voice wobbling. Dan rubbed his shoulder soothingly, trying to help.

"She told me that she wanted to break up with me. Said she'd been thinking about it for- for a while now, but couldn't meet my family tomorrow. She said I was a great- a great  _friend_." He said the word 'friend' bitterly, as if it physically pained him. (It probably did). "And then she said she still wanted to be my friend, if I wanted to, but she didn't l-lo.... not in that way, she didn't love me"

After the words fell out of his mouth, he broke down again into giant sobs, and Dan pulled him into another hug. He had thought about Phil and Sara breaking up before, and had always mentally wished for it to happen, despite how happy Phil was with her. Now that it was happening, he wanted nothing else but for them to have not broken up. Phil was an utter mess. Dan hadn't even really realised how in love his friend had been with her, and spent the next 10 minutes soothing him, telling him that it wasn't his fault.

Phil finally calmed down enough to stop the tears, and looked up at Dan for the first time, panic in his eyes.

"God, what am I gonna tell my parents? I love her, Dan, and I'm gonna be so embarrassed to tell them she broke up with me! Hell, Martyn might not even believe I ever had a girlfriend! It's gonna be the worst thing- why did it have to be today?" He was falling into a state of anxiety, so Dan tried to calm him down. His mind was whirring, trying to think, think, think.

"You could call it off, tell them you've decided not to go on holiday with them?" He suggested, but Phil shook his head.

"They'd never believe it, they'd think I've been lying about the whole thing. And I'd still have to tell them at some point, all I'd be doing is delaying the inevitable." He moaned, putting his head in his hands.

"Well, could you still go with her? As friends, and then pretend to be together for them?" Dan suggested wildly, but one look at Phil's face told him that this was never going to happen. "Ok, that's not a good idea, sorry." 

"Don't be sorry, you're trying to help my idiotic self." Phil mumbled, and Dan frowned.

"You're not idiotic, Phil." He told him.

"I am. If I wasn't an idiot I might still have a girlfriend and not be in this mess." He practically whispered.

"Philip Michael Lester." Dan said sternly. "Do not blame yourself for anything that happened. This is not your fault! Sometimes love happens, and sometimes it doesn't, but that's not a thing anybody can control! The universe doesn't care how nice a person is, if she broke up with you then it's not your fault!"

Phil smiled ruefully, as if he didn't believe him. "It was partially my fault though. If I didn't- no, it doesn't matter."

Dan paused. "Did she say anything else about why she... y'know...?"

Phil swallowed. "I don't wanna talk about it. Maybe some time, but right now I want to worry about tomorrow"

"Ok. But trust me, Lester, I'll keep you to that. It's not good to keep things bottled inside you." He told him softly. "I of all people know that." Phil looked up at him and smiled, a small smile but it seemed genuine. It was the first smile he had made since getting back that night, and it disappeared as quickly as it arrived.

"I still don't know what to do about tomorrow." He said glumly, as he leaned back on his bed, bringing Dan down with him. Dan's mind, however, was thinking. It was a stupid idea, but it might work? If Phil would be happy to go along with it, and if he was  _that_ desperate to get out of embarrassment in front of his family.

"How much did you tell your family about Sara?" He asked.

Phil replied almost instantly. "Pretty much nothing. Mum wanted to meet her before she was told anything, as she wanted to 'make her own judgement', or something like that."

"Did you mention her gender at all?" Dan continued to ask, and Phil frowned, trying to remember.

"No, I don't think so. Always referred to her as my partner, just cause I'm used to doing that, with being bi and all." He thought out loud, and Dan internally rolled his eyes at his mind which  _still_ did a jump for joy when Phil talked to his attraction to guys and girls.  _Just because he's attracted to guys doesn't mean he could like you in that way!_

"Ok..." Dan began, speaking slowly. "I have an idea, but you can be super quick to tell me to fuck off, or whatever." This certainly peaked Phil's curiosity, and he rolled over so that he was looking at Dan, blue eyes meeting brown.

"What?"

"Well, if you've told your mum that you have a  _partner,_ then you could still pretend you are dating someone, just not her." He told him, as confusion arose on Phil's face.

"Well, I could, but are you suggesting that I grab somebody off the street and get them to come with me on holiday? You know nobody I know would be willing to go this last minute on holiday, let alone be in an awkward fake relationship with me and interacting with people they don't even know! I mean, not many people know me or my family well enough, except y-" He rambled, before stopping and suddenly catching on. His eyes opened very wide, as his mind began to race. "You mean- you'd be happy to, y'know, pretend to be with me? Like, actually pretend to be dating me? To my family?"

Dan nodded to him, smiling gently. Something in the back of his mind was telling him that this was the worst possible idea, and that there was no way he would be able to hide his crush around Phil when they were actually pretending to be together. It would be torture of the worst kind, but he squashed those thoughts, and instead focused on the fact that he could pretend that Phil was in love with him, even if it was just for a week.

"I- well, I don't want to force you to do anything you're not comfortable with Dan! I mean, I don't want you to find it awkward, and what if the fans find out? They'd completely freak out-" He rambled, but was cut off by Dan.

"We can easily tell your family that we're keeping it low-key, especially if we're out in public. I think they'd understand us not wanting to let the public know for now, especially if we tell them it's a recent thing. And honestly, I know your parents well enough, and I know you better than Sara does, so I think we could muddle through it together." He explained, as Phil seemed to consider the offer.

"Look, things won't get awkward if we don't let them, right?" He asked, biting his lip in a way that made Dan want to lean down and seal his lips onto Phil's.

"We've been best friends for the best part of a decade, Phil- one week won't change that! And anyhow, we act like an old married couple enough for them to believe we're together already!" He joked, and Phil laughed. A few seconds later, Dan felt himself being tackled into a hug, as Phil reached his arms around him. He laughed loudly, as he put his arms around Phil's too, and they lay there for a while, content in the moment.

"Thank you," Phil mumbled into his shoulder. "You really don't have to, if you don't want to, but this would save me so much."

"Of course. You know I'd do anything for you, right?" Dan asked, and Phil didn't answer. Dan felt Phil smile against his shoulder, and took it as a yes. Without looking up at him, Dan spoke again. "Can I just stay here for the night? It's nearly 12, and I'm waaaaaaay too comfortable to move."

"Mhhm, wasn't planning on letting you move anyway." Phil murmured into his shoulder sleepily, as Dan rested his head down on the pillow. They fell asleep like that, content in hugging each other, and Phil didn't even let Sara cross his mind once. 


	2. Explanations and Interrogations

The next morning, Dan woke up as something had softly hit him in the side. Confused, he opened his eyes and was met with a mass of black hair, and a warm body pressed against him. He swallowed heavily, and tried to wiggle out of the hug, but Phil made a small noise and rolled closer to Dan, moving his arm tighter around his middle. Dan's face went bright red, as he tried to relax more into the situation, but all he could think about was the closeness of his best friend, and (God forbid) the small noise he had just made, which was utterly adorable. He tried to regulate his heart beat and calm down, but it wasn't happening when his _long term crush_ was hugging him tightly in his bed.

Looking over at the clock, Dan could see that it was 8:00, which meant they had to get up soon. Phil's flight- _their flight now-_ was in the early afternoon, so they had to set off by 10:30 to reach the airport on time, and Dan had still yet to pack anything. To be fair, this time it wasn't due to his overwhelming procrastination, as he literally hadn't known he was going on the flight, but it didn't change the fact that they both needed to start to get ready.

Dan tried once again to break out of Phil's grasp, but it wasn't happening. Luckily, his left arm was free, so he reached around and poked Phil in the face.

"Phiiiiiilllllll..." He whined quietly. "We need to get up! I need to pack!" At these words, Phil slowly opened his eyes, meeting Dan's.

"Hi." He said quietly, as memories of last night rushed back to him. He looked slightly sad, but resolved.

"Hi." Dan whispered back, grinning at Phil. After another minute of doing nothing but looking at the other and daydreaming, Phil reached up his arms and they detangled from each other at last. Still not wanting to get up, Dan rolled into the duvet and covered himself with it, groaning as Phil opened the curtains and let light in.

"Come on, I'll help you pack if you want- but only if you get up in the next minute!"

8 hours later, Dan and Phil were waiting in a queue to board their plane. When buying tickets, Sara and Phil had agreed that they didn't need to buy any fancy seats, so Dan and Phil ended up sitting in two seats with humans all around them. Doing a quick scout, Dan couldn't see anybody who looked like they recognised them, and the bald business man in front of them definitely didn't, if his glare at them was anything to go by. He breathed a sigh of relief- now, they wouldn't need to worry about being watched or recognised.

As soon as the plane was flying in the sky, Phil turned to Dan. "We need to get our story straight. My family will never believe us if we have contradicting stories." Phil paused, as he heard Dan snort. "Well, not _straight_ then, but get it sorted!"

Dan nodded in between chuckles, agreeing with Phil. If they were going to do this, they would do it properly. "Ok, so you told them it was a recent thing, right?" He asked, and Phil nodded. "Well, we can say we got together a few months ago, that's believable. Do you wanna go with the whole 'secretly in love and pining but finally told the other' thing, or just tell them we decided to give it a shot and see where it takes us?"

"I'm not sure. The second would be easier for if we end up telling them we broke up in the future or anything, but the first would be a lot more believable for them- Mum's a believer in true love and that crap." He joked, and looked over at Dan.

Dan knew it shouldn't make him sad that Phil was talking about a break up already, as it was the logical thing to do in this situation- it was going to have to happen at some point. But he really didn't want to think about it yet. "Let's go for the first then, we finally admitted that we loved each other. I guess that'll be easier to act an all too."

"What do you mean?" Phil asked, confused.

"Well, y'know," Dan stuttered. "Most of our fans think we're in love anyway, I'm sure your parents secretly ship it or something. We do give off that kind of impression."

"I suppose so," Phil replied, and Dan internally breathed a sigh of relief. "So, how did we admit it then? Bagsy you told me first!"

By the end of their 11 hour flight, they had sorted out all the details of their 'relationship', and had managed to get a little bit of sleep. It would've been 1 in the morning in the UK, but in California it was only 6 in the evening. Hopefully the jet lag wouldn't be too much of a worry, as they had caught up a little bit on the plane. As they stood up to get off the plane, Phil turned to Dan.

"If you don't wanna do this, you can still back out now. I can tell them the truth, and you can say you just came along as there was a spare ticket. You don't have to worry about offending me or anything." He explained quickly. His parents had told him they would be waiting for them in the airport, thankfully without Martyn and Cornelia, who were joining them the next day instead.

"Phil, you need to stop worrying! It was me who suggested this whole idea anyway, of course I'm fine with it. Let's just get off and face them, yeah?" He replied back, putting his hand on Phil's shoulder. They both smiled, before turning to exit of the plane. Somewhere along the line, Dan felt his hand find Phil's, and they walked into baggage together. Once bags had been found, they dropped their hands reluctantly (for who knows who could recognise them here?) and walked into 'Arrivals'. One small smile at each other, and they entered.

There wasn't a huge crowd of people, but there was enough to block the Lester's from Dan and Phil's view to start with. After a minute of searching for them, they finally saw then near the back of the room, looking around for them too. Quickly, they made their way over to them, nerves jumping in their throat. Phil felt like they would immediately see through the charade; Dan felt like they would immediately believe and become obsessed with the charade.

As they walked over, Phil's Dad (Nigel) finally saw them, and pointed to them to show Kathryn where they were. They first looked happy, then confused, before the boys reached them.

"Phil!" Kathryn exclaimed, before hugging her boy tightly. As Nigel did the same, she brought Dan into a hug, warm and comforting. Dan let himself smile a bit, as he always loved Kathryn, as much as a second mother. After they greeted each other, Nigel turned to them both.

"So, uh, Phil told us he was bringing his partner on holiday with him. Does that mean- I mean, are you and Phil...?" He asked awkwardly, as they both looked between the boys.

"Uh, yeah we are, Dad. Dan and I have been dating for about two months now." He admitted, and tensed slightly. "Surprise?"

Kathryn looked over at Nigel, before her face broke out into a wide grin. "I told you, Phillip, I said you were perfect for each other, and every time you tried to deny it, I knew deep down... Oh, I'm so happy for you boys! I knew there was always something different, you two just seemed too oblivious to..." She trailed off, going off on a tangent about how great they were for each other and how happy she was for them. After what felt like an eternity, the two blushing boys managed to step in and speak.

"Um, thank you Mum, but could we- uh, get going?" Phil asked awkwardly, looking around to see if anybody had noticed the sudden outburst.

"I think what Phil means to say, Mrs. Lester, is that we're out in public here. As much as I'd love to be able to grab his hand and tell you all about it, we haven't exactly come out to the public, and we feel a bit open here." Dan stepped in, and Kathryn nodded in realisation.

"Of course, that makes sense. It sure is a hard life for the famous, no?" Nigel joked. "Congratulations, boys, we can talk more once we're in our taxi." Phil smiled gratefully at him.

"And you don't need to call me Mrs. Lester, Dan! Kathryn or Mum will do just fine!" Dan nodded his head, smiling nervously still, and they all began to walk off.

The second they sat down in the taxi, Kathryn turned to the boys again. "So.... Tell me all about it!" She gushed, and Phil went red.

"Muuuuum." He moaned, shaking his head. "You don't give us a minute to sit down, do you?"

"I've been waiting 8 years for this day! Forgive me for not wanting to wait another minute!" She told him, as the two boys looked at each other. Dan had assumed that they would've 'shipped' them to a certain extent, but it seemed that Kathryn had been doing so since the day they met. Dan grabbed Phil's hand, and ran his thumb across his.

"Well, it was two months ago," Phil started, jumping into their rehearsed explanation, but Dan cut in.

"August 29th"

"Yeah, it was then. We had fallen asleep watching TV the night before, and I woke up first. Dan was lying on me, with his head on my shoulder, and I found myself just not wanting to move. And then it hit me, I guess. There's nobody who I'd rather spend the rest of my life with, nobody who I could love more. And I realised that I was in love with him." He told them all, going slightly pink as his parents cooed at them. Dan was grinning widely. "It took me the rest of the day to get up the courage to tell him this, but I just kind of blurted it out to him over tea. He took it quite well, if I remember rightly."

It was Dan's turn to blush now. "Hey! It wasn't my fault you sprung it on me so randomly! I wasn't prepared! You had the whole day to plan what you were gonna say."

"Yeah, and you had 8 years!" Phil replied, raising an eyebrow at Dan. This comment hit close to home for Dan- he had had 8 years to say something to Phil, and never had done. He put on a fake-annoyed face, and rolled his eyes.

"It's not my fault my crippling self-anxiety stopped me from ever thinking you could like me back!" He replied.

"8 years, Dan? You mean to say you've been waiting for my lump of a son for 8 years?" Nigel exclaimed, and Dan nodded.

"Took him long enough." He replied, looking into Phil's eyes. The older boy blinked, before leaning in and kissing Dan's cheek quickly, which promptly turned bright red.

"See Phil! If you'd just listened to me for once, instead of brushing me off, then you two could've been together for years!" Kathryn told them.

"Yes, yes Mum- you were right!" Phil admitted, the grin on his face still there. "Are you happy now?"

"So long as you and Dan are happy, yes." She told them. Dan squeezed their hands together, and they rode the rest of the taxi ride talking about their lives, what else was going on, and how Kathryn and Nigel had been since they'd last seen them. In barely 10 minutes, they were arriving at their holiday home, a big house which looked well kept and friendly.

"Your room will be up here, on the right." Explained Nigel, who showed them their room. It was on the opposite side of the house to the other bedrooms, which Dan and Phil were quite grateful for, as they were quite private people. It was furnished with white furniture, with one queen sized bed in the middle, and drawers to keep their clothes in around it, but besides that it was quite minimalist. The view was beautiful out of the windows though, with a great view of the sea stretching out across the horizon. The house they were at was only a five minute walk away from the sea front, which was one of the reasons why Phil's family had chosen this place.

"I'll leave you two to get settled in. I'll expect you probably just want to sleep, what with the time difference here," Nigel suggested, and Dan and Phil both nodded. They were both quite exhausted, and ready to sleep to be energised for the next day. It took them a while to sort out their luggage, but once they had finished, they got ready for bed. In the hot heat, Dan only wore his boxers to bed, and Phil only some pyjama bottoms. Dan couldn't stop himself from staring at Phil's chest as he stretched upwards, and snatched his eyes away as Phil looked at him.

Getting into bed together proved to be an awkward experience. It wasn't like they hadn't fallen asleep together the night before, but being in their shared bedroom in a shared bed felt different somehow. Dan lay on the right, and Phil on the left, and they turned to face each other.

"I think we did ok." Phil tells Dan, who nods.

"Yeah, I wasn't expecting your Mum to be quite so... well, how she was." Dan laughed, and Phil looked embarrassed. "And anyway, you never told me about her constant pestering, trying to tell you you were _in love_ with me!"

"Actually shut up!" Phil said, hiding his face under the cover. "She's so meddlesome, but she seemed so happy when we told her today. I don't want to ever tell her we're just pretending." His head popped back up, and he looked sombre, as if he regretted everything.

"Well then, we'll just have to pretend to be together forever. You can fake-propose-"

"We can get fake-married-"

"Fake-honeymoon-"

"Fake-adoption-"

Dan broke into giggles, and before long Phil joined him. They were laughing at the absurdity of the situation, in a bed together where the other people in the house thought they were boyfriends, and they couldn't stop laughing. Every nagging thought in the back of Dan's head was repressed once again, before they fell asleep in the same bed for the second night running.


	3. "First Date"

Once again, the next morning it was Dan who woke up first, but thankfully this morning they weren't tangled in each other's arms. Deciding to get up, as it was 10:00 already, he jumped out of bed and went for a quick shower. By the time he had finished, Phil still hadn't woken, proving again that he was a really deep sleeper. Dan would've waited for him to wake up, but having not had a proper meal the night before, his stomach was grumbling for food, so he decided to venture downstairs and find the kitchen.

He found it in not too long, and began his search for something to eat in all the cupboards. In the end he settled on some Frosties, and poured himself a bowl to eat at the table. As he began to chew, Nigel walked in, dressed and looking ready for the day. He greeted Dan, before sitting down himself to drink a coffee he was carrying. The silence wasn't awkward, but it did feel like Phil's dad wanted to say something. Sure enough, a few minutes later he put his cup of coffee down and turned to Dan.

"Look, I know that I've known you for a very long time, and that you've done nothing but prove to me how great a person you are, but I just wanted to check that you and Phil were on the same page with everything," He began, and Dan smiled politely. He was getting the 'Dad talk'- great. "Although Phil never realised it himself, he's been head over heels in love with you for quite some time. Now that you're together, I want to know that you're serious about this relationship- because I can't stand by and see him get hurt."

"Of course, I completely understand that." Dan replied back, careful with his words. He found himself not having to lie too much in reply, as he literally had been in love with Phil for 8 years. "I have no intentions of hurting him at all. I've loved your son for 8 years now, and I want this more than he probably knows I do." Dan stared off into the distance, a lump forming in his throat. Of course he wanted all this, and more, so much more, yet it could never be real.

"That's what I thought," Nigel continued, looking at the emotion Dan was showing. "I can tell he means a lot to you, as I know you do to Phil as well. It reminds me of when me and Phil's mother were your age..." He mused, before patting Dan on the back and walking off to get himself some breakfast.

Phil had woken up without Dan in his bed, and had immediately gotten himself showered and ready for the day, before he decided to go downstairs to investigate where Dan was. He heard voices coming from the kitchen, and stopped to listen by the door to check if it was Dan, or if it was just his parents.

"-been head over heels in love with you for quite some time..." He heard a voice say, and frowned as he recognised his Dad's voice. He strained his ears to hear more of it. "-want to know that you're serious about this relationship- because I can' stand by and see him get hurt." Phil rolled his eyes, because of course Dan was getting his Dad's infamous talk to him. It had happened to Cornelia before, when she had started to date his brother Martyn, and they had laughed about it together. Phil had half a mind to go in right now, but something stopped him. He wanted to hear Dan's response.

"-no intentions of hurting him at all. I've loved your son for 8 years now, and I want this more than he probably knows I do." Phil jolted back as he heard Dan utter those words, taken aback. Of course, Dan was just making things up to trick his Dad into thinking they were together and actually in love, but the sincerity or Dan's response shocked him a little. He had always known Dan was a good actor, but never _this_ good! After a bit of waiting around to avoid suspicion of eavesdropping, Phil opened the door and walked in to see Dan and his Dad sitting at the table together.

"Good morning Phil!" His Dad greeted him, and he replied back with another morning hello. He walked over to where Dan was sitting in a chair, and lent over it so that his arms were resting on his shoulder. He pressed a kiss on the top of his head, before resting his head on Dan's. If felt comfortable, and natural to be stood like this.

"Morning you," He said, poking Dan in the cheek. "Where'd you get the cereal from?"

"Second cupboard on the left," Dan told him after finishing his mouthful. Phil began to make himself his own breakfast, while making himself and Dan a cup of coffee. It had become a sort of routine for them- whoever got up last made the coffee for both of them, and Phil did it without thinking. Sitting down, he passed the mug over to Dan, who squeezed his arm in silent thanks. They ate together in a comfortable silence, before Nigel spoke up again.

"We're planning on going to pick up Martyn and Cornelia from the airport in about 10 minutes. I'm assuming you two would rather not come, it'll be waiting around for a while, and I'm sure you want to get properly settled in instead." Nigel suggested, and they happily agreed. After a few more minutes, he promptly got up and left the room, saying a quick goodbye to them both before he and Kathryn left to pick up the others.

Two hours of watching crappy American TV, and scrolling through their tumblr feeds, they heard the door open. Bracing themselves for another barrage of questions, they walked to the front door to greet Phil's brother and his girlfriend. Martyn jumped in and shoulder bumped Phil in a friendly manner, before he spotted Dan.

"Hey, Phil, I thought you were bringing your partner on holiday with you? Did she bail?" He asked, raising an eyebrow at Dan. They both went red, and Dan coughed.

"Well, actually, I _am_ Phil's partner." He admitted, looking at their faces to see their reactions. Cornelia straight away smiled widely, and looked happy for them, but Martyn's eyebrow only raised higher, as he smirked at them.

"Oh! At last, Phil?" He asked him, and Phil blushed widely. "Cause I remember a 25 year old telling me they'd eat their hat the day he and Dan actually got together!"

"Ok, ok, why does everyone have to keep reminding me that I was wrong?" Phil asked, as Dan felt his heart sink. Every time somebody joked about Phil previously saying he didn't love him, it hit him right in the chest, as despite what the others thought, Phil still didn't love him.

Martyn's eyes lingered on Dan, as he observed the happy looking exterior. Something seemed off in Dan's eyes, but maybe he was tired from the jet lag in the UK. God knows he was."I'm happy for both of you, but I can't believe you've waited so long to tell us! You'll have to fill me and Cornelia in on the details!" He told them, smiling at last. "Oh, and don't forget the £50 you now owe me, Nelly!"

Dan opened his mouth in shock. "You bet on Phil's love life?" He asked them.

"When we first met, I thought you two were dating, and he had to explain to me that you weren't. That day, we made a bet- if you two ended up together before the end of this decade, I'd pay him £50. If you didn't get over yourselves and see that you were actually in love by 2020, he got £50" Cornelia explained, sticking her tongue out at Martyn.

"And I was genuinely starting to think I wouldn't win!" Martyn joked back. "Honestly, we made the bet back in 2013, and it's been 4 long years! Any longer and I might just have lost."

"I can't believe you two!" Phil moaned, punching his brother's arm lightly.

"You love me really!" Martyn grinned. "Now, you gonna tell me who ended up asking the other? What's the story behind the romance of the decade?"

By the time they'd finished telling their story, and Martyn and Cornelia had settled themselves into their room, it was mid afternoon. Not wanting to waste a day, Kathryn suggested that they could go out to see a little of the local town, and get dinner out. Agreeing that it was a good idea, they all went to their rooms to get ready to leave the house.

"That could've gone worse, with Martyn. I was expecting him to tease me a lot more than he did!" Phil told Dan, who rolled his eyes at him.

"I can't believe you'd tell him you'd rather eat your hat that us get together! I'm quite offended!" Dan joked, as Phil went red again.

"He's always pestered me about getting together with you- I just try to tell him anything to get him to shut up, I'm sorry!" He explained, hoping he hadn't actually hurt Dan's feelings.

"I'm only joking, you spork!" Dan laughed, going over to their wardrobe to get his shoes out. As sat on the bed to tie his shoelaces up, Phil pulled him into a hug from behind, linking his arms around the middle and resting his head on Dan's shoulder. "What are you doing?" Dan asked after a minute.

"Just.... y'know, hugging my _boyfriend_ ," Phil replied back, grinning lazily as Dan sighed dramatically.

"Shut up, you dork!" Dan said fondly, finishing his shoe before turning around to hug him back. They stayed like that for half a minute, before they were interrupted by Martyn walking into the room.

"Mum said we're leaving in a few- uh, sorry," He began, before seeing the two boys. They immediately broke apart, blushing hard, and looked up at Martyn. "No, it's fine, keep doing your... thing if you want! I was just gonna tell you we're leaving soon, but it looks like you're ready, so I'll see you downstairs in a few."

"Well... that was mortifying." Dan cringed, turning to Phil. They looked at each other, and a few seconds later they had broken down into a puddle of laughter.

"Let's go on our  _first date_ , Danny boy!"

 

The town they were staying in was a fairly big attraction for tourists, with it's beautiful beach and perfect location for seeing sights in California. They walked from their holiday house to the front of the beach, where there were many restaurants. Though it was only mid afternoon, none of the 6 had eaten much for lunch, so decided to go into one of the restaurants by the side, and have a proper catch up together.

As they went to sit down, Phil pulled out Dan's chair to let him sit down first, as he saw his Dad do the same for his Mum. Dan blushed slightly, but shook his head at his friend.

"Honestly, you really don't need to do that for me Phil!" He told him, and Phil replied by laughing at him in the adorable way where his tongue stuck out. Dan couldn't help smiling back at him, as he remembered how much he adored the older Lester brother. Martyn coughed, trying to divert their attention back to the table.

"As much as I'm happy you two have  _finally_ gotten over yourselves, I really don't fancy spending my holiday trying to get you to pay attention to anything other than each others faces, if you don't mind." He chided them, before Cornelia shushed him.

"Let's not forget that they've been waiting eight whole years for this! Two months of being together probably doesn't feel like much to them!" She reasoned, and Martyn shrugged.

"You're both too  _cute_ for each other!" Mrs Lester began. Wary of another motherly display of affection towards the new 'couple', Phil butted in.

"Let's not forget the 'new couple' are sitting right across from you," He said, looking pointedly at Martyn.

"Aww, aren't I allowed to tease my little brother?" Martyn asked in a patronising manner. Dan could practically feel Phil rolling his eyes in frustration at his brother, and reached down to grab his loose hand. Phil's eyes flickered across to their hands, which were out of view of the family, before looking at Dan. He had a small smile on his face, and in the brief part of a second that their eyes met, a conversation seemed to pass. It wasn't like they needed to hold hands to keep up the looks of being a couple, but it felt natural to them to do so. Phil turned to look back at the menu.

"I think I'm going to have the chef's pasta special," He announced, and Nigel and Kathryn shared a knowing look. "What?" Phil asked them.

"Nothing," Nigel replied, bemused. "It's just that it's not often that you resist the urge to bicker with your brother when he decides to tease you." Phil gave Dan's hand a quick squeeze, before he shrugged back at their parents.

"I think I'm gonna barf." Martyn moaned.

"Now, now, Martyn- there's no need to be rude." Kathryn chided, and watched her sons both smile at each other, cheekily. Whilst they may appear to bicker all the time, and constantly get on each other's nerves, there really weren't many siblings that could claim to love each other as much as her two boys did.

 

The rest of the meal passed without any further incidents, with the majority of the time being spent deciding on things they'd like to do while in California. Cornelia and Nigel both agreed that they would like to visit some more natural places, and parks, which there were a few of near to them. By the end of the evening, most of the week had been planned out, with enough time put aside for simply relaxing, but at the same time enough visits to make the trip exciting and worthwhile.

When they exited the restaurant, it had gotten dark, as it was getting on in the evening. Seeing as there weren't many people around, Phil boldly grabbed Dan's hand, and let them swing between them. They dropped back from the others a bit, content with each others company and the cool sea breeze wafting in from the side. Nothing between them felt forced.

By the time they got back to their home, the jet lag had caught up with them, and they all decided to pack it in for the night. Dan and Phil got ready in comfortable silence, before getting into bed together, facing each other.

"Hi," Dan breathed quietly. Phil giggled.

"Hi," He replied back. They stayed in the same position for a moment, before Phil continued. "Soooo, I was thinking,-"

"- dear God!"

"- shut up! I was thinking that we're gonna have to kiss during this holiday." He stated, and Dan rolled his eyes. Internally, his heart was beating at twice the speed it usually did, as even the thought of kissing Phil filled him with nerves.

"Well, yeah, your family do seem to be under the impression that we're in a relationship." Dan joked.

"I think we should, y'know, practice before the real thing," Phil replied back, ignoring Dan's comment. "Just cause I don't want them to be able to tell it's our first time kissing, or anything."

Dan laughed softly at that. "Dear God, this really is turning into one of our fans phanfics!" He chuckled. "All right, I see where you're coming from. We should kiss."

Phil smiled at his words, before they locked eyes. It took all of 5 seconds before they immediately burst out laughing, neither of them having planned on moving in or knowing what to do.

"I thought you wanted to kiss!" Dan said in between laughs.

"I do!" Phil replied. "I just- do we just, you know, go for it?" This prompted more laughter from Dan.

"It was your idea! Just- whatever!"

"Ok," Phil said, before his face turned slightly more serious again. "Ok, so we're doing this." He looked at Dan, who had too stopped laughing, and was now looking between his eyes and lips.

"I guess so, Lester." He replied in barely a whisper. It took another few seconds, before Phil decided just to go for it.

Awkwardly, they lent in together, before their lips met halfway between them. Any traces of awkwardness immediately dissolved, as Dan felt himself leaning further into the kiss, following Phil's lead. Their lips moved together in synchronisation, as Phil moved his hand up to hold Dan's curls, pulling them closer. Dan's mind was simply filled with just  _Phil,_ as he felt himself getting lost in the emotion and feeling of his best friend kissing him.

Before too long, it was over, and Phil pulled away from Dan. Dan turned onto his back, looking at the ceiling and avoiding Phil's eyes.

"Uh, wow uh- I don't know what to say," Phil said.

"Maybe we won't be kissing like that in front of your parents?" Dan suggested, before looking over at Phil. It took half a second for them to break out into a fit of giggles, Dan ending up with his head in the crook of Phil's neck. They stayed like that for a while, content with their position.

"Goodnight, Phil," He muttered quietly, before separating himself from the other to turn off their light. Once it was dark in the room, he turned back to his position. Surprising him in the dark, Phil's lips were suddenly on his again, for a shorter amount of time this time. It was more like a peck really. "And that was for...?" Dan questioned.

"More practice?" Phil asked, and Dan was positive he had either an eyebrow raised or a smirk on his face.

"Night, idiot."


	4. Two Bros Chilling on the Beach front

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> woah thanks for the support and comments on my previous chapters!! any comments make my day, so keep them coming. as a thanks i've made this chapter slightly longer, also to say sorry for the slight delay! i am very busy with five a levels so the updates may be quick, or slow depending on my workload!

It was nearing midday by the time the two boys finally got out of bed. They had both woken up earlier, but neither of them particularly wanted to escape from the cozy bed they were sharing. Instead, they had both pretended not to be awake and laid together, limbs tangled.

By the time Phil had made it downstairs, he had realised that they were the only ones in the house, and that the others had gone off to do something. While sat at the table, he read over the note they'd been left.

_Dan & Phil_

_We've headed out to the beach and plan to spend the day there! Feel free to join us there when- or if- you end up waking up!_

_Kath x_

Phil smiled as he read the note, turning to the door to see Dan walk in, hair curly and untamed. Phil found himself thinking about how adorable he looked, before he realised that he was thinking that, and immediately blushed. Luckily Dan hadn't seen his face, so he stood up quickly and turned away to busy himself with getting his breakfast- or lunch by this time- ready. Dan slumbered up to his side to get his own food, and their hands brushed as Phil passed him the cereal. Their eyes locked and Dan smiled to himself, lost in thought.

Phil moved quickly down and pecked his lips, moving away as quickly as he had moved forwards, and sat at the table to eat. Dan stood still, the smile on his face growing bigger. Wanting to kiss your bro must mean something, right? Nah, who was he kidding- it wasn't like Phil could feel that way about him. He was probably just lonely after his break up and used to showing affection to somebody, and Dan was filling in for her. Not that he wasn't going to enjoy it whilst he could, though.

They sat and ate in a comfortable silence, both too half asleep to want to get ready too quickly. After time went past scrolling through their twitter feeds, they finally decided it would be time to get up and go to join the others. 

 

The beach nearest to them wasn't the busiest of beaches, which suited both of the introverts, and would be even less busy this time of year due to it being term time in American schools. What was even better was the weather- a beautiful, blue sky with hot sun, but a cool breeze to stop the air from becoming stuffy. When they got to the shore front, Phil looked around for his family, before spotting them halfway across the beach. Both of them had put on suncream and changed into only their trunks and a t-shirt before coming down, and were now glad that they had nothing more to do before they could go in the sea.

They made their way over to the family, to see that Martyn and Cornelia were pretty much asleep sun-bathing, while Kathryn and Nigel were on deck chairs, Phil's Mum reading a paperback. They smiled as they made their way over, and Nigel waved to them.

"Ah boys! Finally got out of bed then?" He asked, smiling widely at them.

"Mhm, they  _do_ spend a lot of time in bed together." Martyn muttered quietly from below, where Cornelia proceeded to whack him with a spare towel, getting sand all in his hair. Dan flushed red, and Phil groaned.

" _Martyn!"_ He moaned, as his brother laughed back at him. "I think we're going to go in the sea, make the most of the midday sun!"

"Might join you in a bit, if I don't fall asleep!" Cornelia added, before dropping her head back onto the towel. Dan and Phil dumped their own belongings down, before Phil reached up to take his top off. Realising he was staring at Phil's now exposed chest, Dan tore his eyes away and took off his own top.

 

By the bottom of the beach, where the waves began to lick their feet, they stopped. Phil took a few steps forwards, before yelping and moving backwards. "It's cold!" He told Dan, who laughed but shook his head.

"Of course it'll be cold, you idiot!" He laughed, taking steps forwards himself. Sure enough, the waves weren't swimming pool hot, but neither were they icy cold. "You're such a wimp!"

"Am not!" Phil argued.

"Are too!" Dan replied. "Look, it's really not that cold at all." He reached out his hand for Phil to take, sparks involuntarily shooting up his arm as they linked. Together they started to walk into the sea, until they were almost up to their middle. Dan (being a few steps ahead) could feel a drop in the sea in front of them, and smirked.

All of a sudden, Phil felt Dan's hands on his back, before he was being pushed forwards. He tripped over his long legs, spare hand flailing around as he fell backwards into the sea. Unfortunately for Dan, what he hadn't anticipated was the fact that their hands were still linked, and as he began to laugh at Phil falling in, he felt a tug as Phil tightened his grip, and then he himself was falling into the deeper sea.

In a few seconds, Phil had broken the surface again, and shook his head to try to get the salty water out of his face. He was trying to look annoyed, but couldn't help but laugh as he saw that Dan had a bit of seaweed on his head.

"Now who's the idiotic one?" He teased, smirking at Dan. Dan proceeded to flip him off, before splashing water in his direction. Another splash retaliated back at Dan, before he raised an eyebrow at Phil.

"Oh, you're on Lester!" 

 

From the beach front, Nigel chuckled to himself as he watched his boy mucking around with his boyfriend. It made him happy to see Phil finally dating somebody who not only matched his levels of kindness, but made him genuinely happy to be with. There was no one more deserving of his son than Dan Howell (even if he did push him into the sea when he wasn't expecting it!)

"They're sickly sweet, aren't they?" Martyn groaned.

"Oh, come off it Marty! It's not like you and Cornelia weren't like this when you first got together!" Kathryn said sweetly, looking fondly at the two in the sea.

"I was so not!" Martyn defended. "And anyway, it's not like they've changed  _that_ much since finally getting together. They were always like this, and always have been!"

"I'm just glad they've finally realised it themselves, and had the courage to admit it to each other. I can't believe that would've been easy for them." Nigel replied back, as they went back into silence.

 

Dan glanced a look at the beach, to see a few pairs of eyes on him. He smiled. Phil's parents were the nicest people on the planet- excepting Phil himself- but weren't half nosy into their business. Having calmed down from their play-fight, Dan moved closer to Phil, and put his arms round his neck. Phil responded by putting his arms round the bottom of Dan's back (which was underwater), and he brought him into an embrace. Without even thinking, Dan brought their lips together once again, spending time kissing Phil and playing with the bottom of his hair. He opened his mouth slightly, letting them kiss further than they had done before, but before too long they had to break for air.

Coming apart, Dan let his head rest on Phil's shoulder, but kept his arms around his neck. They were underwater from the top of their chests down, and Dan felt like he was both physically and mentally floating.

"Was their any particular reason for that outburst of emotion?" Phil asked, his voice sending vibrations into Dan's neck. He hummed in response.

"You're parents have been watching us for the past few minutes." He explained, and Phil took a glance to confirm.

"Oh," Phil replied, sounding almost sad.

"But I did also quite want to kiss my boyfriend," Dan added. "You know, because it's quite enjoyable to do so."

Phil raised his eyebrow. "Yeah? I'm a good kisser then?"

"You're all-right, Lester." Dan replied softly. "Wouldn't get too big-headed."

"Oh, that's fine then. I'll forget about this kiss I was just gonna give you." Phil replied back, leaning his head back onto Dan's shoulder.

"Hey!" Dan exclaimed, giggling slightly. "Shut up and kiss me, spork!"

"Why don't yo-" Phil tried to reply, before he was shut off by Dan's lips. He couldn't help but grin into it, which ended up making it more awkward, but neither found the will to care. After all, they could just practice kissing again and again before they perfected it.

 

After time had passed and the sea was beginning to bore the two, they made their way out to dry off. Dan laughed as Phil tried to grab his hand.

"You're all pruney, I won't wanna hold that!" He laughed, as Phil crossed his arms over his chest.

"Aww, you're no fun! Won't even hold your boyfriends hand- what kind of a partner are you?"

Dan responded by knocking their shoulders together, which pushed Phil off course. Neither could stop grinning as they waltzed up to their family members, hands together by the time they reached them.

"You guys done with the sea?" Nigel asked them, and they nodded.

"I was thinking of drying off in the sun, perhaps try to change my pure white skin to slightly tanned or something!" Phil laughed, as Dan snorted from beside him.

"As if, all that'll happen is you'll end up burning- like always!" He replied.

"Ok, Mr I-Always-Get-A-Perfect-Tan!" Phil said in mock outrage. "I mean, it's not like I can remember any times when you've overdone your tan or anything..."

Dan made a noise of disbelief, before he began poking Phil's exposed stomach, as the older boy giggled and ducked out of his way. Dan glared at him as they lay their towels close together, and flopped down on them. After a few minutes, Dan began to close his eyes, content in feeling the sun beam on his back. He felt himself nearly falling asleep, his eyes droo-

"It's true though, you're 2012 tan was a sight to behold."

_"Phil!"_

 

Dan woke up a few hours later to something poking his forehead. He blinked twice, opened his salty eyes and tried to focus on the object in front of him, noticing how the sun was beginning to set in the distance.

"Wake up, sleepy head, or your ice-cream will melt!" Phil told him, grinning and sticking out his tongue in the adorable way that couldn't stop Dan from smiling back at him. For a few seconds, they held each other's gaze, not wanting to pull away, before Phil pushed the ice cream nearer to Dan's hands. He took it, and Phil sat down next on Dan's right. Somehow, they ended up pretty much leaning on each other, with hands linked on the sand.

A few minutes after they had finished their ice-creams, a sudden noise caused them to turn around, and they realised that the noise belonged to an iPhone camera. Phil rolled his eyes at his Mum, who was looking at her phone with a wide grin on her face.

"Oh, you two look so adorable! This is definitely one for the photo book! I can't believe both my boys have finally found true love, at long last!" She babbled, trailing off into her own world. Dan smiled quietly, before he suddenly felt a wave of guilt so strong he began to feel nauseated.

How could he be letting Phil's Mum, who had only ever been loving and accepting towards him, believe that her son was happily in a relationship with somebody who had no plans on leaving him any time soon? She was so genuinely happy for them that Dan began internally cringing at the thought of having to tell her they weren't dating. His hand fell weakly from Phil's as he looked out to the sea.

"Hey," Phil said suddenly, and Dan turned to face him. No sooner had he moved than Phil was kissing him, an admittedly short but sweet kiss that seemed to convey a lot of emotion in one movement. He pulled back, smiling softly at Dan. "You're overthinking, I can tell." 

Dan rolled his eyes. "Thinking, maybe."

"About what?" He asked, slight concern edging into his calm voice. Dan sighed quietly. It wasn't exactly like he could outright say what he was feeling.

"I don't know. The future. Who knows?" He replied back, purposefully vaguely.

"Have you and Phil thought much about the future?" Kathryn asked, butting into their conversation. Phil privately raised an eyebrow at Dan that promised a follow up to their conversation.

"Not particularly, Mum. We've been dating for 2 months, it's really not been that long!" He explained to her.

Kathryn smiled knowingly. "Oh, you say that, but I'm sure it feels like you've been dating since you met really!"

"I haven't thought much about the future," Dan confessed to her. "But whenever I do think about it, I can't even begin to imagine a life without Phil in it."

Dan blushed as he realised what he had just said, and turned away to look at the sea once again. He could hear Phil's Mum making an 'awing' noise from where she sat, and he cursed himself. He might as well propose to Phil, with how convinced she was that they were together. He was, though, surprised by Phil's hand, which softly grasped his cheek to turn it around and face him. For the second time in the space of five minutes, he found himself kissing his best friend, except this time it went on for longer than he had expected.

After they finally broke apart, Phil rested his forehead on Dan's. "Just for the record, I don't want a future without you in it, either." He muttered quietly, leaning in to peck his lips before moving off again. Dan's heart was beating so fast.  _It's for his Mum, it's for his Mum, it's for his Mum_ he kept trying to tell himself. But when he looked behind him, he saw her leaning over, engrossed in conversation with Martyn and Nigel instead.

So many thoughts were running through his head, but he couldn't make sense of any of them. Did Phil genuinely mean what he had just said? Because he sure knew he meant his part! Was Phil kissing him because of his family, or did he genuinely enjoy kissing Dan? Had he forgotten about his girlfriend, or was Dan some form of fill-in for her?

"Come on, you two!" Cornelia called from over the beach at them. They looked over to her. "If you grab your shirts and head over to the beach front now, the sun is perfect for photos!"

Dan grinned thankfully at her, as he and Phil walked over to join her. Cornelia had always had a great eye for aesthetic photos, which was one reason why her and Dan had gotten on so well. She dragged them over, and proceeded to take multiple photos from all different angles and poses on Dan's phone. There were a few Dan thought might just about be able to be posted on Instagram, but a few of them that he wanted to keep just for himself. Ones of them holding hands, acting like a proper couple, and even one where Phil had surprised him by leaning in to kiss him quickly.

"You two are too adorable." Cornelia told them, whilst handing Dan his phone back.

"Phil is, yeah!" Dan agreed, squeezing his hand. He was grinning whilst saying it, but Phil still proceeded to try to contradict him for the next five minutes.

 

It was later that evening, when Dan was laying on their bed, that he scrolled through the photos to see which ones he would keep. Phil was in the shower _(don't think about it Dan!)_ but Dan had just come out. The time was nearing 11 o'clock, as they had eaten their dinner and stayed around to talk and socialise with Phil's family for a while after coming back from the beach.

Dan decided to create a folder for this holiday, of all the photos that were too private, or too romantic to be even considered for giving to the internet. He stopped, and stared at one photo. Perhaps it was because he was used to the other pictures taken that night, but it didn't look too romantic. It was one of him and Phil, silhouetted on the right of the screen, but you could see that Phil's arm was wrapped around Dan's waist, and in it Dan was staring, captivated, at Phil's face.

After spending another five minutes playing around with the photo on an editing app, Phil walked in, with his pyjama bottoms on but his chest bare. Dan flicked his eyes up to look at him, tried to prise his eyes off his chest, and turned back to his phone.

"What you looking at?" Phil asked in a sing song voice. Dan blushed slightly, thinking of him staring at Phil's chest, but decided to ignore Phil's question and ask his opinion on the photo instead.

"Just a couple photos from today," He explained, feeling Phil get into bed beside him. "I was thinking of posting one of the ones that wasn't so coupley, because obviously we don't want a stampede of teenage girls at our feet." Phil chuckled.

"Sounds good, people are probably wondering where we are by now. We've been quite inactive on social media for the past few days."

"Yeah, but the trouble is, none of them seem to be under the category of 'just friends'" Dan told him, and Phil frowned.

"Lemme see that one," He asked, and took Dan's phone off him. He gave it a once over, before shrugging.

"Do you think it's too gay?" Dan asked, laughing.

"Yeah, it's probably a bit too gay," Phil replied, changing the contrast a minute amount. "But what the hell- let them obsess over it if they want!"

Dan looked at him, eyebrow raised. "You sure? We're probably gonna get a lot of hell for it, isn't it a bit like queer-baiting?"

Phil shrugged his shoulders again. "Is it really queer-baiting if we're both queer ourselves?" He asked, as Dan thought. He continued to fiddle with Dan's phone, while Dan thought on it. "It's not like it's a coming out or anything. You know. It's just a happy moment we've shared together, why shouldn't we post it?"

His words made Dan feel fuzzy inside. There was something calming in the fact that Phil liked the photo, and didn't care what people would think when they saw it. Dan curled up into Phil's side, letting him edit the photo further on his phone.

A few minutes later, he passed it back, but instead of it being open on the editing app, it was open on a tweet that was tweeted thirty seconds ago.

"Phil!" Dan whined, scrolling to see what he had captioned it with. " _a beautiful view on a californian beach"_

Dan read it, and tried to be annoyed with Phil, but nobody would be able to tell it wasn't him who had captioned the picture. It fit his aesthetic perfectly, and the caption was short enough to convey a meaning without becoming too convoluted. From the wording, he was sure many people would take it that he meant Phil was the beautiful view, but if they were going to be picky at things seeming gay, then all they needed to do was look at the photo itself.

"Ok. It's not cool that you captioned and posted it yourself without checking with me, but at least you fit my aesthetic." Dan told Phil, before turning his phone off to put on the side of his bed, and curl up further into Phil.

He would deal with all the comments and uproar in the morning. For now, he just wanted to live in the moment.


	5. A Family Mountain Walk

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry it's been a while guys!! hope you like the update, also a note that i've never been to california or mt soledad so i have no clue what the walk or view is actually like! thank you all for reading and comments make my day!! also i was gonna make this a longer 13 chapter fic but that's unrealistic and won't ever be finished, so i think it's gonna be like 8/9 instead, and only a week holiday instead!

When he woke up that morning, Dan immediately pulled over his phone to check the time and his notifications. He barely noticed Phil's arm around his waist, but was suddenly shocked by the number of notifications on his phone. Due to him having an extensive number of fans, he had set the push alerts he received to only being from people who he followed, but there was still a ginormous amount of likes, mentions and retweets showing. Opening it, he was brought to the top notification, from Tyler Oakley.

It was a retweet of the photo Dan had posted last night, captioned only with "*squeeeeee* is it finally happening, guys?" Dan rolled his eyes, as he went back to see all of his various mentions on twitter. After managing to get through the depths of twitter, he held his breath as he opened up tumblr. 'Phan' was trending- more so than usual- and their picture was at the top of the tag. He spend the next few minutes looking through their hashtag, liking various pieces of art, before he felt Phil stir from beside him.

Dan gently pressed his lips to his forehead, mumbling a quick 'good morning' to him before turning back to his phone.

"If you have billions of notifications, then they're all different variants of people either screaming or crying," He told Phil, who's forehead crinkled in minor confusion, as his brain fought to try to wake up.

"Hm?" He mumbled, sleepily to Dan.

"I mean, people really are taking the photo I put up last night to be something pretty major." Dan explained, not bothered by the news at all. Phil spent the next few minutes scrolling through his own notifications, occasionally showing something to Dan. He stopped at one message however, and frowned.

"Sara just messaged me." He stated, staring down at his phone with an odd expression on his face. Dan's heart dropped at the mention of Phil's ex-girlfriend, and what was worse was the fact that she was texting Phil again. He wondered if she had seen the picture Dan had posted last night, and what she thought about it.

"What'd she say?" He asked Phil.

"Oh, nothing much. Just asking if I'm having a good time on holiday, y'know." Phil replied, and Dan raised a silent eyebrow. He could usually tell if his friend was lying, and this seemed to be one of those times. Dan didn't, however, want to press for too many answers, as he knew his friend was sensitive towards Sara at this point. Although it felt like ages since they had left England, it had really only been two or three full days since they had broken up, and Dan knew better than to pry too far into his business. But he did want to make sure Phil was still ok.

"Are you doing ok? I mean, about the whole thing? Do you miss her lots?" He asked awkwardly, not really knowing what he was saying until his mouth spilled questions. Phil's expression didn't change much as he listened to Dan, but he waited a few moments before replying.

"It's hard, you know. But I don't feel like I miss her as much as I should. I'm not sure how to explain it," He began, and Dan nodded from beside him. "I think I more miss the part of being  _in_ a relationship, which may be why this all feels so easy between us. I feel like I'm being too clingy, or just kissing you whenever I want to, because I miss being able to do that with Sara."

Dan's heart fell slightly as Phil spoke. He didn't like to see Phil upset about anything, but at the same time Phil's words were upsetting him too. He knew that Phil suddenly wanting to kiss him was too sudden, too perfect to wish for, but he had begun to let himself fall into the trap he promised he wouldn't fall into. It was becoming normal and natural to love Phil, and show his affection- but if Phil was just using him as a means to get over a girl and fill in the void in his heart, it made the scene 10 times less romantic.

"I can understand, we have been pretty intense in the past few days. I mean, I'll stop being so affectionate if it's hurting you at all." Dan told him, and Phil frowned.

"It's not that! I don't mind all of this at all, quite the contrary. But," He continued,"- we do also have my parents to convince, and now that we've begun to show affection we can't suddenly stop, can we?"

Dan smirked, and rolled over. "I suppose not then," He said. "But honestly, if anything starts to get too far, or just too much for you, all you have to do is say something and we can give it a break. You're parents aren't any more important than making sure you're happy." (Dan mentally vomited at his words.)

"Spoken like a true boyfriend!" Phil laughed, before leaning over to peck Dan on the lips. He spent the next few minutes getting ready, taking his clothes with him to the bathroom to get dressed, and left Dan to himself and his thoughts.

Dan couldn't have a less clear mind. He was getting multiple mixed signals, some parts where Phil seemed to enjoy being 'in a relationship' with Dan, but then told him it was the act of a relationship he enjoyed and not  _Dan._ But then he went and said that there was no problem with all of this, and (God forbid) seemed to not hate kissing Dan? He couldn't expect Phil to have just broken up with his girlfriend, who he seemed to be in love with, and then fall suddenly in love with Dan- it was virtually impossible, especially for someone like Phil. Over the years Dan had known Phil, he had come to realise that he wasn't the kind of person who half does relationships. He devotes time to the person (when he has a significant other, which wasn't too usual an occurrence), and always had bad break ups with them.

To imagine that he was over someone who had a big enough impact on his life as Sara was hard to do. But even if Phil would never like him in the way Dan did, he still had this holiday to enjoy the thought of being in a relationship with Phil. It was more than he had ever gotten before.

 

By the time they'd gone down, it was nearing 11 o'clock, and the Lesters were sat around the table, talking together over coffee. They smiled and greeted Dan and Phil, before they sat down next to each other in the remaining chairs that had been left for them.

"So, boys, we were thinking about going on a walk today, up Mt. Soledad!" Kathryn told them, and they nodded to her. "It's meant to have some really great views of the city and beaches at the top, and should take around an hour or so to walk."

"That sounds good, when are you planning on going? We'd love to join you." Dan told her, speaking for both himself and Phil.

"Well, we were thinking of going after lunch, go up the hill when it gets a little bit cooler in the afternoon, and hopefully try to time it to get the sunset in the view we get." Nigel told them, and they smiled back.

"Sounds like a plan!" Phil said, before getting up to make himself and Dan a cup of coffee from the kettle on the side, which had just finished boiling.

 

A few hours and TV episodes later, the six of them were getting out of their car, and looking up to the top of a mountain. Due to none of them being particularly athletic, they hadn't wanted to climb the entire mountain, as it would take them far longer than the afternoon. They had driven a fair amount up the mountain, to a car park which led off to a pathway to the top. Even from part way up, the view was already incredible, with a great landscape stretching underneath the Californian sky.

As they began to walk up the hill, Dan and Phil found themselves falling slightly behind the other Lesters, which wasn't surprising (giving their lack of daily exercise!) Despite having not seen his family for a few months, Phil still would choose to spend his time on holiday with Dan rather than his Mum, something that made Dan's chest feel warm. For the time being, the path ahead of them was empty, so Phil felt no worries about taking Dan's hand in his as they walked up the gradual slope together.

A few minutes later, a group of tourists walked around the corner, and the boys quickly let go of their hands on the off chance that anybody there would recognise them. By the time the group had passed, Dan smirked and turned to Phil.

"Yeah, I could totally see that group of grandparents watching our videos and creating drama over us holding hands, Phil!" He said teasingly, to which Phil rolled his eyes.

"You never know, Dan!" Phil replied, to which Dan snorted loudly and smirked wider. "Oh, shut up!"

"Make me," Dan flirted, as Phil cocked his eyebrow. For a second Dan thought that Phil was leaning in to kiss him, out in the open on a public pathway while they were meant to be walking up a hill, but Phil stopped by his ear.

"Don't worry, Howell," He spoke softly and quietly. "That part comes later."

Dan's face reddened like a beetroot as he felt Phil's breath near his neck, sensuously speaking in his ear, and he tried not to let his mind wander from what Phil had just said. Phil turned away from him, but grabbed Dan's hand back and pulled him along slightly, trying to catch up with his family. They didn't speak much until they had regrouped with the others, finding themselves halfway up the top of the hill already by that time.

 

"Nice of you two to join us," Martyn spoke as he saw them rejoin the group. "I mean, this holiday  _is_ supposed to be about  _family_ and all that."

"Shut up, Martyn!" Phil responded. "Anyway, Dan's family too!" Dan felt his heart stop for a minute, as his face threatened to heat up once again. He had never really thought about it before, but now that he did he supposed that Phil would count as 'family' to him. They spent all their lives together, lived in the same house and saw more of each other than any other person. They both knew each other's parents well enough, having been round social gatherings with the other. Kathryn felt like a second Mum to Dan by now.

"You cheese!" Dan rolled his eyes, kissing Phil on the cheek and swaying their hands slightly. The atmosphere around them was peaceful, the sun hot enough for them to need sun cream but the breeze cool enough for them to be able to keep going up the hill. They made their way upwards, talking amongst themselves as they walked above the rest of the city. The sun was beginning to lower in the sky by the time they had made it to the top, and the monument was deserted.

It was a giant white cross, with a plaque explaining it's significance. Whilst Dan, Phil and Nigel went to read the sign about the monument, Kathryn and Martyn went to look at the view, while Cornelia tried to get the perfect view for her artsy photo. After a few minutes, an older couple joined them at the top, and waved them over. Confused, Dan made his was over to them, tugging Phil along with him but dropping his hand before reaching the couple.

"Hello dears," The woman greeted them, and they replied back. "I was just wondering if you would be willing to do a photo swap? Me and my husband would be happy to take a family photo of all of you if you would take a photo of us as well!"

Dan readily agreed, saying he'd be happy to do so, before calling the others over to them.

"You are such dears, and you look so cute together!" This caused both of them to blush heavily and laugh nervously. "And there's no need to hide it around us either, we're not going to shout at you or think any worse of the two of you for it! I think it's wonderful!"

Luckily, at that point the others joined them and saved Dan and Phil from the slightly awkward conversation. The elderly couple were certainly lovely people, but with their whole relationship being fake they were unsure how to respond to such things like compliments from other couples. Cornelia took over the photography, using the older male's camera to take their photo, before passing over her own phone for them to use.

They stood with the beach view in the background, the sun on their left casting low shadows over them. One by one, they lined up, with the order being Martyn, Cornelia, Nigel, Kathryn, Dan and finally Phil. As they posed, Kathryn put her arm lightly around both Nigel and Dan's backs, and Dan decided to do the same to Phil. It wasn't anything worse than what he had posted on twitter the night before, after all.

Once photos had been taken, they thanked the older couple and said goodbye. Now that they were done with the peak, they made their way back downwards, conversation falling easily between them.

 

A hour or so later they finally returned home, and Dan immediately flopped onto the sofa, taking out his phone to see that Cornelia has sent the newest photos to their group WhatsApp chat (it was called 'Lester Family Vacation' and made Dan very happy). Phil mentioned something about getting a cup of tea, to which Dan snorted at, and he left to go to the kitchen. The rest of the Lester's made their way to either their rooms, or to a different part of the house to relax for a bit. A few minutes later, Phil returned with two cups of tea, one for each of them.

He made his way over to the sofa Dan was on, putting their cups of tea on the table next to them before sitting next to the other male. He rested his head on Dan's shoulder, leaning his body onto his, and closed his eyes for a brief moment.

"Don't wanna move or do any excessive ever again." He moaned, as Dan chuckled at him from his left. They sat in comfortable silence, Phil playing softly with Dan's right hand and sleeve as he rested against his 'boyfriend'. With every passing day, Dan felt more and more like his boyfriend rather than just his friend, but Phil couldn't find it in himself to care.

A few minutes later, Phil got his own phone out with the intention of seeing the photos of today. He smiled at the family photos, saving the non-blurred ones and deleting the others. Choosing the best one, he spent a few moments fiddling with the contrast and editing it slightly, before pulling up twitter to post it to. He wrote a quick caption before pressing share, letting the public see it.

Dan's phone buzzed as he received the notification that Phil had posted a photo. Opening it, he smiled as he saw their photo from earlier, and he read the caption. 'Enjoying spending time with my family in California!'

 

The two of them pretty much stayed in the same position for the rest of their night, with a break for dinner in between, before they made their way back to their spaces in the living room with the rest of the Lesters too. They spent a small amount of time chatting together with the news on in the background, before Phil squeezed Dan's hand to get his attention. They seemed to have a mental conversation in their heads in the small space of time they were looking at each other, and Phil was the one to break eye contact.

"I think me and Dan are going to go off to bed now, we're not quite used to doing too much exercise in one day!" He joked, as his Mum smiled at him. "Have we got any plans for tomorrow?"

"Not really, I think we were just going to have a lazy day. We might go to the beach if we want, but whatever you feel like tomorrow!" Nigel told him, and they nodded back in response.

"So you can keep Dan up as long as you like tonight, so long as you don't make too much noise!" Martyn said, cocking his eyebrow up at Phil. Cornelia hit Martyn on the head with a cushion at the same time as Kathryn called his name out in exasperation. Dan made a choking noise as Phil's face went bright red as he stood up to get going. When he and Dan reached the doorway he turned back, caught Martyn's eye and made a rude gesture with his finger before quickly making a getaway. He heard his Mum gasp loudly, as well as Cornelia's loud laugh, but he couldn't stop himself from giggling too. He soon caught up with Dan and they went into their room together.

"I'm sorry about Martyn," He apologised. "He seems to be going out of his way to completely and utterly embarrass us this holiday, as older brothers tend to do." Dan laughed.

"It's no matter, considering on the walk you promised me something that would happen later on in the day!" Dan replied. It was Phil's turn to choke this time, as he remembered his promise to shut Dan up.

"Been looking forwards to it, have you?" Phil asked, raising his own eyebrow at Dan. The atmosphere in the room had completely changed, dropping from playful to a deeper, more flirty and intimate setting. Both the boys seemed to notice it, but before either of them could say anything somehow they were kissing again. It wasn't anything like before, because it was a deeper, more desperate kiss. It felt more passionate and intimate than anything that had happened so far on this holiday, but both of them were too tired and into the moment to pause for a minute and think.

They went on kissing together for longer than could be explained away with excuses of pretending to be in a relationship. At some point the kissing had become deeper, with them laying on the bed together, hands on hips and in hair. Phil felt something stir below inside him, as he suddenly came to his senses. He was seriously getting turned on whilst kissing his best friend, even though they promised each other that nothing would come of their fake relationship. He pulled away quickly, before mumbling something about needing a shower before bed and stalking off to the bathroom.

 

By the time he finished in the bathroom, Dan had already turned the lights off and gotten ready for bed. Phil walked out to see him lying in their bed, sleeping peacefully and his heart skipped a beat at the sight. Choosing to ignore whatever feeling he may be having inside him, he got into bed himself and wrapped his arms around Dan, falling into a quiet sleep.


	6. Lover's Tiff

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry if this seems a bit rushed- i'm trying to get this fic finished before the end of the holidays, because i need to finish everything off before school starts! three more chapters to go, i think! and a possible smut too!

As per usual, Phil woke up before Dan and found himself tangled in the arms of his best friend (something that was becoming more and more common). He smiled as he looked at Dan's peaceful sleeping face, and gently moved his arms from his chest to get out of bed, trying not to wake the other as he did so. Once he had gotten off him, he took his clothes to the bathroom and got changed into them, before heading downstairs to see who else was up. It was only half past nine in the morning, but it felt a lot later with the sun rising earlier in California. As he went downstairs, he saw Martyn was awake and eating some cereal.

"Morning," He greeted him, stretching his arms then going to get his own cereal out.

"Morning!" Martyn replied. "Mum's asked if some of us can go get a couple bits from the shops this morning, I think I saw a supermarket on the way to the beach the other morning. Wanna join?"

"Uh," Phil scratched his head, thinking. Dan would probably be asleep for another while longer, and it wasn't the end of the world if he wasn't around him for a bit. "Yeah, sure that sounds good."

"I wouldn't worry about Dan, I'm sure the two of you can go an hour or two without seeing each other." Martyn commented, as Phil rolled his eyes and continued to eat his breakfast whilst checking his phone. Once they had finished their food, they decided to set off and get the shopping done. It felt weird to Phil, going out just the two of them, as it wasn't something that really happened very often (the last time had probably been in their childhood). They made small talk as they went round the shop, adding washing powder to the basket, then bread and more as they passed each isle.

 

Before too long, they had finished and were making their way back to their holiday home. It had taken about 20 minutes to walk down, but as the way back was uphill it would take them slightly longer to get back up. Martyn seemed to be thinking about something for a minute, before he turned to face his brother.

"So, are you going to tell me what's going on with you and Dan?" He asked, as Phil felt his blood freeze. He nearly dropped the shopping bag he was holding, but took a breath to compose himself.

"What do you mean?" He asked, stalling. Martyn couldn't tell that him and Dan weren't really together, could he?

"I think you know what I mean." Martyn replied, looking straight at his brother. "I'm your older brother. I know when something's up with you, and I know when you're lying to me. You're hiding something, I can tell, so just stop lying and tell me the truth."

Phil paused for a second, before realising any attempts he would make to leave the conversation would be futile. "Me and Dan aren't together." He spoke quickly. "When I agreed to come on holiday with my partner, I wasn't lying that I had a partner. Only, the partner wasn't Dan. She's called Sara." Before he knew it, the whole truth came spilling out of his mouth, while Martyn calmly listened and nodded along with him.

"And now Dan and I are here, stuck in some sort of limbo where I don't know if what I'm feeling for Dan is just friendliness, loneliness or my feelings for Sara just amplified onto any person who I can have a 'relationship' with! I just don't know- everything's gotten so confusing!" He finished, as Martyn bit his bottom lip in thought.

"So Dan just suggested this whole idea and you just went along with it?" He asked, and Phil nodded. "Are you really that blind to not  _know_?"

Phil shook his head and sighed. "You better not start with all the 'oh can't you see that you're both in love?' stuff Martyn, I don't like him in that way!"

Martyn gave him a pitiful look. "I know, I'm not saying you're blind to yourself. I'm saying you're blind with Dan. Have you stopped to actually think about him in all of this for even a second?"

"Of course I have, he's pretending to be my boyfriend! How could I not be thinking about him?" Phil asked, frowning at his brother.

"No, not necessarily just since you've come on holiday. I just mean in general, can you not tell? All of us can see it, clear as day."

"See what!?" Phil practically shouted. Martyn seemed to dither on saying something before replying.

"Look, it's not my place to say anything if you haven't realised it for yourself. But I'm just going to say that sometimes it's healthy to think about other people's feelings, and not just your own."

Phil went quiet, his mind whirring as he listened to what Martyn was saying. "You're not saying that he- that Dan  _likes_ me are you?" He asked, and saw Martyn's knowing look.  _"Oh."_

"I don't know how you've never realised it in all these years of living with him. But it's what they always say, love makes you blind." He said, and Phil didn't even have it in him to tell Martyn that he  _didn't love Dan._ "Why do you think he was so okay with pretending to be your boyfriend? Why he's been so good and sincere at acting all this week?"

"He's a good actor!" Phil protested, but one look from his brother made him shrink back. "I suppose, he never did want to meet up with me and Sara. And he was always in foul moods when Sara and I had a date night. I thought he was just a bit jealous of her taking up my time, but I didn't know it was this deep! And that time..."

Martyn watched his brother fall into quiet thought, as the pieces in his mind finally fitted together. He was glad to know the truth, and was happy that Phil trusted him enough to come clean to him. But at the same time, he felt a twinge of regret in his mind. He had always known that Dan had loved Phil, ever since he first came round to the Lester's house during the snowy winter of 2009. Everybody seemed to know it without really voicing it, which was partially why everybody had been convinced that they were secretly dating all along. And Martyn knew his brother. He knew that Phil's feelings for Dan had never been fully platonic, but he also knew that Phil would never believe anybody who tried to tell him this until he figured it out for himself.

"Look," He began, seeing their house ahead. "Don't do anything stupid. Dan's someone who everybody in our family loves, and nobody wants to see him hurt. So please, just take some time to sort out what you're feeling. Whether it's friendship, or more- you need to sort it out." Phil nodded understandingly, still lost in his own thoughts as they went in through the front door. Martyn took the bag off Phil, going into the kitchen to sort out the shopping while Phil made his way up to his bedroom. As he entered the room, he saw Dan putting on his jacket and checking his hair in the mirror.

 

"Phil!" He greeted him, moving over towards him but stopping when he saw his face. "What's wrong?"

"I- nothing, I went shopping with Martyn." He said, not meeting Dan's eyes. When he didn't reply, he continued, knowing he had to at least let Dan knew that Martyn knew the truth, or something might be let slip. "I'm really sorry, but he knows me too well and knew that we were lying about something, so I had to tell him the truth."

"You told him that we were in a fake relationship?" Dan said quietly, but slightly angrily. Phil nodded. "Phil, how could you? What's the point of even doing this if you're going to tell your family?!"

"I didn't mean to, he just wouldn't give in!" Phil shot back. "Anyway, it's not like he's not gonna know the truth when we break up in a bit of time is it?" He finally looked up at Dan, who looked slightly hurt and annoyed. He immediately bit back his words, regretting saying anything about them breaking up. Any doubts with what Martyn had said about Dan's feelings evaporated as he looked at Dan's downcast expression at the thought of them being over.

"Yeah," He said quietly. "When we break up. Did he say anything else?"

"Errr," Phil stalled. "Not really, nothing of much importance." Dan's eyes turned slightly angry again, as they both knew Phil was lying.

"What else did he say Phil?" Dan asked, and Phil shook his head.

"He didn't say anything, just told us to be careful around Mum or something." Phil replied, and Dan dropped his shoulders.

"I don't care what he said, I'm just annoyed you feel the need to lie to me and not trust me." He said quietly. "I think I'm going to head out on a walk, I'll see you around later."

"Dan-" Phil cried, but before he could grab his arm he was gone, slamming the door hard on his way out.

 

Dan tried to slam the front door as he left, but found it got stuck on something. That something turned out to be Cornelia's foot, as she pushed the door back open and jogged to catch up with Dan.

"Hey kid, your phone was on the side and I didn't want you going out alone with that look on your face!" She said, handing Dan his phone before pausing. "You know you can tell me anything, right? I won't even tell Martyn if you don't want me to, you can vent to me if you want."

"I," He began, but broke off. "I think I've made a huge mistake" He continued his story, beginning with Phil and Sara's relationship, and ending with his mini-argument with Phil that he had had this morning.

"Do you love Phil?" Cornelia asked gently, after she had heard the story. From her grasp on what had happened, she was pretty sure that Dan loved his best friend, but she wanted to check.

"I've loved him since I was 18 years old. That part of our fake relationship wasn't a lie." Dan replied, laughing humorously at himself. Cornelia reached across and pulled Dan into a hug, one that Dan hadn't quite known he had needed until it was upon him. They stayed like that for a few moment, then broke away to carry on walking. "It wouldn't be too bad if I knew I could never really have him. I could get over it. But the problem is, he's bisexual, he flirts with me on and off camera and doesn't ever give me a definitive answer!"

Cornelia nodded silently in understanding. "So you've been holding onto it for 8 years now, and you've never thought to say anything to Phil?"

"Of course not. I think in the first year I made it perfectly clear that I had a crush on him, and the fact that he chose not to act on it proves that he doesn't like me in that way." Dan replied back.

"Yeah, but people change Dan! I knew Martyn for a year before we decided to date!" She continued.

"I guess. At the beginning of this year I began to wonder if things were changing, what with him acting slightly different around me. By July, he was fairly openly flirting with me. But then he and Sara got together, and I remembered that I'm his best friend, and nothing more."

They walked in silence for a few minutes, both thinking to themselves but comfortable with the other to not feel awkward in silence. Cornelia broke it. "I'm not trying to sound silly, but you two have been completely obsessed with each other this holiday. None of your actions seemed to be platonic, which I know was the point but it looked to me like you were both enjoying the idea of dating. I mean, you haven't half spent a lot of time making out, which I could  _never_ even imagine doing with my best friends."

"It helps that I'm in love with him." Dan muttered. "I've definitely been enjoying this vacation, but I don't want to be a- I guess the word 'rebound' pops to mind."

"Well, either you've got to come clean to Phil and tell him that you love him, or you're gonna have to wait until he chooses to acknowledge the elephant in the room." Cornelia told him, and Dan nodded. "Maybe you should give it a bit of time, see how things progress until you get home, and if he hasn't said anything by then, you're gonna have to talk about your 'break up', which would be a perfect opportunity for you to get in there!"

Dan laughed. "That sounds sane, but have you even met me? I'm the queen of anxiety, and I don't think I'll ever be able to say something to him. I've had 8 years to say something and haven't."

"I'll keep texting you until I become so annoying that telling Phil the truth is the preferable option!" She joked, and they both laughed together. The turned the corner, which was conveniently back at their house. Before they walked in the door, Dan pulled Cornelia into a big hug, wrapping his arms around her.

"Thanks for putting up with me. And promising not to tell anybody about this. And for just being super kind and helpful." He rambled quickly. They pulled away to open the door.

"No problem, I'm here anytime!" She said, before they turned and walked in.

 

It took barely a second for Dan to walk into the house before he was engulfed with a ginormous hug that nearly knocked him off his feet.

"Dan!" Phil exclaimed, holding on tightly to him. "I am so sorry about earlier, I did something stupid and made you feel shit for it, which I should never have do-" He was cut off by Dan kissing him, which shocked him into silence. 

They pulled away slowly. "Stop talking," Dan said softly. "It's fine, I understand why you did it. And honestly? I don't care, I'm over it. Let's enjoy our holiday, yeah?" Phil nodded slowly, resting his forehead on Dan's before pecking his lips again and moving away.

 

The rest of the day was spent playing Mario Kart, catching up on British TV on BBC iPlayer and general chilling. Kathryn and Nigel had gone down to the beach for lunch, leaving the four of them alone together to spend the rest of the day doing nothing. Phil was grateful for the opportunity to be able to think, and as the day went on his thoughts became more and more confused. Every time he thought that there was no way he would be able to love Dan, the latter would do something that immediately made Phil rethink, from leaning his head on his shoulders or cuddling into him on the sofa, or God forbid kissing him gently. Phil's mind was a mess.

By the time night had fallen, Phil was getting tired both physically and mentally. What even was attraction to somebody defined as? Where was the line between friendship and romantic attraction? He went over some questions inside his head. Was he sexually attracted to Dan? If last night was anything to go by, then yes he was. Did he constantly want to kiss Dan senseless? Yup. Did he want to spend the rest of his life with Dan? Yes! Did that mean he loved Dan? He rolled over to look at his best friend, their eyes locking, and he felt himself melt.

Yes; he loved Dan.


	7. Summer Heat

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> smut warning!! (not that any of y'all sinners need a warning for that)
> 
> this chapter is a little shorter than usual, and i reallllly don't like it but oh well, it's up at least! might be a bit of a while before the next chapter, but there are only two more chapters anyway so stay tuned! thanks for reading, and kudos/comments are appreciated like always!!!

Light streaming through a crack in their curtains woke Phil up the next morning. He blinked slowly and rubbed his eyes to try to get the sleep out of them. As he adjusted to the light and woke up, his gaze fell on Dan sleeping peacefully besides him, and his heart did a small jump. This was Dan, who was supposedly in love with him, who he loved. Now that he had accepted it to himself, it was a lot easier to make sense of his life up until now. Of course, Dan had never just been his best friend. He was always  _more._ Why did all his partners (admittedly, there weren't that many) get nervous around Dan? Why did they always get annoyed with him mentioning Dan in every conversation? Because  _they knew_ before Phil did. It was stupid trying to deny it, and he kicked himself thinking of all the times Martyn or his Mum tried to tell him the truth and he shut them down.

Reaching across to check his phone, he saw that it was 10:30 and that he had a message from his brother. He yawned and unlocked it.

_The 4 of us have gone out to the beach, so u have the house to urself for as long as u want. Don't annoy the neighbours too much ;)_

Phil blushed, and tried to get the image that his mind had just conjured up out of his brain. He shook himself, instead turning to look at Dan. Unable to help himself, he reached over to stroke Dan's curls, gently moving them from across his eyes to behind his ears. Dan sighed quietly in his sleep and moved his head slightly towards Phil's hand. His eyes fluttered as he began to wake up, opening them slightly to see Phil looking at him, morning stubble and a lazy smirk on his face and  _God_ did Dan want to wake up to this every morning.

"I-" He croaked, voice hoarse from sleep. "Morning." Phil took a deep breath, and closed his eyes for a brief moment.

"I'm in love with you." He blurted out. Dan's eyes snapped open fully, widening.

 _"What?"_ He asked breathlessly.

"I'm. In love. With you." Phil repeated, slower this time. "I think I always have been, but I only realised it yesterday." 

"You- you love me? Are you being serious?" Dan asked, sitting up slightly as his brain caught to wake up properly.

"Yeah." He spoke calmly, as if he was simply talking about the weather outside, his face not showing and hint of the pure nerves he was hiding inside. "I was going to wait until we got home, and not do this on holiday but I couldn't help it, seeing you like this."

Dan fought down a blush at what Phil was saying. "I don't believe- oh, fuck it!" He broke off, lunging forwards to take Phil's lip in his. Phil took a few seconds to respond, but quickly reacted to what was happening. Dan was kissing him, no more passionately than he had at the beginning of the holiday, but with the fact that he now knew he loved Dan, it felt different. Elevated. More intimate than anything they'd ever done. He broke the kiss for a second.

"Is this you saying you love me too?" He asked cheekily, grinning lazily at Dan who rolled his eyes.

"Yes, you nerd! I've loved you for eight years, how have you never noticed?" Dan laughed, eyes swimming with emotion.

"I noticed yesterday. I had quite the day yesterday, to be honest." Phil replied.

"Oh really?" Dan asked. "Wanna tell me about it?"

Phil leaned across to kiss Dan again, breaking apart only to speak once more. "Maybe sometime. Not now." He connected their lips again, but this time rolled them over so that he was on top of Dan, practically straddling him. Dan let out a noise as he felt Phil cup his cheek with one hand and run his fingers through his hair with the other. The kiss deepened slightly, as Dan felt Phil's tongue venture into his mouth, silently asking for permission, which Dan granted. 

Phil began to venture downwards, trailing kisses from the bottom of Dan's mouth until he reached his neck. He slowly began to kiss there, starting on a spot on the left side of his neck but pausing as he heard Dan let out a shaky moan. The younger boy immediately put his hands to his mouth, covering it with them as his eyes widened, but Phil just groaned softly in response. He reached across to pull Dan's hands from his mouth and put them above his head, pining them there with one of his hands.

"Wanna hear you, fuck." He moaned, out of breath from the kissing. Dan shuddered as Phil swore, something he rarely did and the fact that his voice had dropped an octave only made him hotter. He didn't have long to think about it before Phil was kissing back on his neck all over again, biting softly into the spot he had been working on which caused Dan to practically whine out.

"You're so hot baby," Phil mumbled from his position, as he looked up at Dan. "How far do you wanna go?"

"Don't care. Anything. Everything. Please, don't stop!" Dan moaned, arching his head away from Phil to give him more space to work with. His arms were still being held by Phil's right hand, and  _God_ was he willing to do anything Phil wanted.

"Can I take this off?" Phil asked, pulling at the material of Dan's pyjama top, and Dan nodded quickly. He let go of Dan's hands to pull it off, leaning back to do the same with his own top. The sight of Dan beneath him, lips swollen, pupils dilated and red marks littering his neck, made him weak, as his cock twitched in response. Choosing to ignore himself, he moved to continue his way down Dan's body, running his thumb over Dan's right nipple and raising an eyebrow when Dan whimpered and lifted his chest up into Phil's touch.

Smirking, Phil moved his head to lick at Dan's nipple, swirling his tongue around the nub as he felt Dan move beneath him. He had never heard anything as hot as the noises Dan was making, and he felt a slight sense of pride to know that  _he_ was doing this to Dan.

"Fuck, Phil, your family are gonna hear if you keep doing that!" Dan said breathlessly, gasping as Phil moved onto his other nipple instead.

"Doesn't matter," He replied from Dan's chest, his voice sending vibrations through Dan's body. "They're all at the beach, Martyn texted." Phil moved back up to kiss Dan again, their mouths a mess of tongue but neither of them found the will to care. Dan reached round to put his arms around Phil and he pulled him closer, so they were slotted in together as close as possible. Their whole bodies were now touching, and Dan blushed as he felt something hard press against his leg.

Phil let out a low moan as he felt Dan grind slightly into him, moving slowly to meet him as they continued to lazily kiss. Phil's hands moved around Dan's waist, until they were slipping underneath Dan's waistband. Pausing their kissing, Phil looked at Dan.

"Is this ok?" He asked, wanting to make sure they weren't going too fast.

"Phil, I've waited 8 years for this,  _please!_ " He told him, and Phil slowly pulled his boxers off. Dan's cock jumped up as it was released, and Dan let out a hissing noise at the cold air on it. Phil experimentally ran his finger over the tip, following a vein up the shaft and Dan moaned out loud.

"Not gonna last long, fuck, shit!" Dan moaned as Phil put his whole hand over Dan's cock. He began to move it up and down, slowly finding a rhythm whilst he let Dan buck his hips up to meet his strokes. It didn't take long before it had built up to a faster, more needy pace, helped along by the precum that Dan was letting out. Phil thumbed Dan's head, and he let out a loud whine that only spurred on Phil to move faster. With one more stroke, his back was arching as he let out ribbons of cum, Phil moving his hand up his length all the way through it. Phil wished he could record Dan's reaction, as it was bringing him to the verge of cumming with only the sight in front of him.

Any worry about not being in love with Dan was out of the window. He couldn't be feeling this much emotion for a human being without being madly in love with them, and he wanted nothing more but to be able to see Dan like this, breathing heavily and full of love, for the rest of his life. He lent over to kiss him gently, conveying as much meaning as he could with the kiss. Dan broke apart.

"Hey, not fair. You've got to see me naked, but yet you're sill in your boxers!" He whined, as Phil rolled his eyes. He moved to pull his pants off, and Dan's eyes opened wide as he saw Phil's still hard and heavy cock. He would be lying if he said that his mind wasn't imagining what the long cock could do to him, how Phil could completely ruin him. "Fuck, Phil, you're massive!"

Phil blushed at the attention, feeling Dan's eyes on him, but Dan reached a hand over to take Phil into his own hands, and all thoughts of any awkwardness were gone. "Imagine if we bought lube with us," Dan moaned, moving his hand faster along Phil. "Imagine what you'd do, you could practically split me open, fuck." Moaning, he heard Phil let out his own low grunt at what he was doing to him.

"It- it doesn't matter that we can't fuck yet," Phil said in between breaths. "We've got the rest of our lives ahead of us yet."

It may have been the hormonal mood in the air, or it may have been the fact that Dan had only just orgasmed, but Dan felt his eyes begin to well up slightly at this thought.  _They had the rest of their lives ahead of them yet!_ This was what his 18 year old self had been wishing for on the train journey to Phil's house for the first time. He pulled Phil into a long kiss, letting his hand drop from Phil's length for a moment.

Minutes later, his hand was back on Phil's cock and they had rolled over so that Dan was now straddling Phil. It hadn't taken much to work Phil up to the point of near orgasm as he had been so close before from just watching Dan, and suddenly he was cumming, his hips jerking into Dan's hand as he got him through it. After Phil collapsed onto the bed, Dan laid his head against Phil's chest and closed his eyes, feeling Phil wrap his arms around his bare chest. He hummed in appreciation, and they stayed like that for a few minutes.

"Not that I particularly want to move, but we should probably shower soon before we get too settled in this mess." Phil suggested, and Dan groaned but agreed. As he made his way over to the bathroom, he looked at himself in the mirror and saw three red marks over his neck.

"Phil!" He shouted. "How the  _fuck_ am I gonna be able to hide these? Your family are gonna see and know what we just did!"

Phil moved behind him and tried to look apologetic, but Dan could see the smirk he was trying to hide. "Sorry, I guess?" He teased, and Dan swatted him in slight annoyance.

"You're lucky I love you!" He rolled his eyes.

"Yeah," Phil replied softly. "I really am."

 

Luckily for both of them, if anybody down at the beach noticed any red marks creeping up from the side of Dan's collar, they decided not to mention it. After all, Dan caught the sun quite easily, so any marks might just be where he missed a spot with his suncream. They joined the other guys on the beach after lunch, spending just a few hours in the sun there, as they both thought it was for the best that Dan didn't take his top off to swim. Whilst walking back to their house, Phil dropped his hand from Dan's and moved back to speak to Martyn, who was walking alone.

"I really owe you one." He muttered quietly.

"For what?" Martyn questioned, eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"For finally making me sense, after all this time." Phil explained, before he shot back off to grab Dan's hand and kiss his cheek.

"NO WAY!" He heard Martyn shout from behind them, and he grinned to himself. Another good thing about this whole ordeal? He had technically only lied a little bit to his family, and there was no need to tell them the truth just yet. Perhaps in a few months, or years maybe, he would open up about how his lie to them caused him and Dan to  _actually_ get together. Or maybe it would stay their little secret.

 

And if the two went up to bed early that night, there  _really_ wasn't any particular reason for it, other than needing to get a good night's  _sleep._ After all, they were going back home later the next day, and neither wanted to be tired for that! And if Martyn could hear any noises from their room as he went upstairs to get his phone charger, of course he was ignoring it and wasn't going to use anything for blackmail against his younger brother. Of  _course._


	8. Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> aha here we go!!! finally finished eh, hope you enjoy! thanks for sticking through with this phanfic guys, it's really been great fun to write!

The next morning was the first morning Dan had ever woken up with Phil wrapped around him and not felt guilty about it. He sighed and curled up closer to his boyfriend, feeling peaceful in their position. Together, they dazed for more than an hour, both too awake to fall properly asleep, but too asleep to want to get up. They were only woken when they heard a knock on their door.

"You guys better be dressed in there, cause I'm coming in!" Martyn's voice shouted as he entered the room. Phil groaned into Dan's shoulder, and pulled him closer (if that was even possible), but Martyn simply laughed at them and opened the curtains wide. "Who would've thought, eh, that this is where we would end up on the last day of our summer holiday. You two lovers in bed together,  _actually_ doing something about the way you've always acted around each other- I mean, me of one month ago would've had a heart attack!"

"Fuck off Martyn," Phil moaned and Dan began to giggle softly.

"Well, one of you seems happy about it, at least." Martyn laughed, and before he knew it a pillow had been chucked his way, whacking him in the face and nearly knocking him over into the curtains. It did nothing but make Dan laugh harder, and Phil joined in after a few moments. "I only came to tell you that you probably need to pack soon, we'll be having lunch in an hour or so and there won't be much time afterwards to pack."

"Thanks," Dan said more seriously, and reached over to pick up Phil's glasses for him. Neither wanted to get out of bed with Martyn in the room (because he did  _not_ want to see what they looked like under the covers) but Phil's brother seemed to be dithering, as if trying to decide something.

"Look," He began, looking more towards Phil than Dan. "I was thinking of proposing to Cornelia soon."

His words finally got the boys attention, as they both suddenly sat upwards and grinned. "Oh my God, really?" Dan asked him.

"Yes really!" He replied, trying not to blush and hide his grin. "It's just, we've been dating for so long and she really gets on with the family, and I don't think I'm ever gonna love someone as much as her. I've bought the ring and everything, I'm just struggling to find the right time. And I'm really scared that she doesn't want a marriage, or thinks she's too young."

"I know you're probably hesitant, but with you two I don't see any reason why you shouldn't get married soon. You both love each other a lot, and I couldn't imagine her saying no." Dan told him genuinely, smiling at Martyn.

"Yeah, I think maybe I just need to wait for the perfect moment," He replied, and the boys nodded back. "Unless we just pretend to be engaged for our next family holiday, and I'm sure by the end we will be. Seemed to work for you two."

Phil made a startled noise of protest, and Dan laughed once again. "Yeah, don't do a me. Don't keep it hidden for 8 years, you'll regret it- I promise."

Martyn nodded, before announcing that he had to go and finish his own packing. Dan stood up to get out of bed and pretended he couldn't feel Phil's eyes on his arse when he put new boxers on.

"It's weird, Martyn proposing." Phil mused, still not out of bed. Dan waited for him to continue. "We always used to talk of what our lives would be like when we were older, what we'd be doing when we no longer lived at home. We used to argue for days about who would get married first- he always said it would be him, but I used to argue differently."

"Well, he's not proposed yet! There's still time." Dan joked. Phil's silence seemed to unnerve Dan, who turned around to face him, now fully dressed. "I was joking, I really don't want you to propose to me  _solely_ to beat your brother in an argument."

"Don't worry, I won't." Phil said quietly. Yet the silence still lingered.

"Phil, remember we've barely even been dating for a whole day!" Dan stated, grinning widely as he spoke. Phil shook his head.

"I'm not proposing to you, Dan!" He replied and smiled back at him. Dan felt himself relax more. "Well, not yet."

Dan's smile turned softer as he felt his stomach flutter. A week ago, had somebody told him that he and Phil would be discussing getting married he would've laughed in their face. For one thing, Phil had a  _girlfriend,_ so how would he-

His mind stopped and his smile dropped. In the excitement of yesterday, he had completely forgotten the reason for him and Phil pretending to date. He had just broken up with his girlfriend, whom he had seemed to love a lot.

"What about Sara?" He asked quickly. "You're talking to me about marriage, yet a week ago I had to comfort you because you were sobbing after she broke things between you off."

"Oh," Phil replied. A childish smile fell onto his face. "She was right about something after all, it seems."

"What?" Dan asked, frowning.

"One of the reasons she broke up with me was that she felt like she was just a fill in for somebody else." He explained, and Dan felt realisation dawn on him. "She told me that even if I couldn't see it, she could. Apparently all I did was talk about you."

Dan snorted. "Cute."

"Shut up!" Phil pouted, and Dan lent over to kiss his lips softly. "I really thought I loved her, I won't lie. But I think this holiday proved her right. She was really nothing but somebody for me to pretend to love."

Dan felt his heart fill again. 

"Oh, and I was meaning to ask you. Are we gonna keep this from the fans? Make a coming out video? Let it slip into videos? Because I wouldn't mind being able to show you off to the world, just as much as I wouldn't mind hiding it if you're not comfortable."

Dan thought for a moment, before he shrugged. "Honestly, I couldn't care less. I'm not gonna try to hide it from them, it'll just be another secret for them to find out about if we do. We could just post something if we feel like it when we get home, or just be casual about it. I don't mind."

Phil smiled. "Good. But, we've got what- half an hour? To finish packing?"

"Shit!"

 

 

Whilst Phil's parents were staying in California for a few more days, both of the younger couples were heading off other places. Martyn and Cornelia were heading to France for a week, and Phil had a sneaking suspicion that Paris would be quite magical for them both. Dan nearly teared up when he heard where they were going, and gave Martyn a specially long hug goodbye when they parted ways at the airport to go to their different terminals.

"She won't say no," Dan told Martyn quietly while they embraced. "Just go for it."

As they pulled away, he saw Martyn smiling at him, silently thanking him for his words. They parted ways, as Dan and Phil's plane was leaving half an hour earlier than theirs, and they had to go through the American security by 4:00.

With as little hassle as Dan thought possible, they were through and waiting for their departure. They had around an hour to kill, so went to buy some food in the shopping area before going to sit and wait the rest of the time out. Phil got out his book to read whilst Dan scrolled through his phone, leaning his head on his boyfriend's shoulder. They hadn't heard any screams yet, so they assumed that nobody around them recognised them so felt comfortable to stay in that position.

For a while, neither man spoke, silently engrossed in their entertainment. But nearly 15 minutes before their plane was due to be boarded, a couple of girls came up shyly towards them. Phil noticed them out of the corner of his eye, and smiled towards them, thinking that they must recognise them. They made their way over, and began to talk.

"Uh... hi!" One girl whispered, and Phil frowned in confusion as to why they were being so quiet.

"Is it okay to say hi?" The other asked, and waved a hand towards Dan. Phil moved his head slightly to look at Dan, and was surprised to see that he was asleep on his shoulder, breathing deeply. His immediate instinct was to aww at him, but he moved his eyes towards the girls in front of him.

"No, it's fine! Uh, I'm not gonna wake him up or he'll be cranky but we can take a photo with asleep Dan if you want!" Phil spoke quietly, and they nodded.

"Thank you!" The taller replied, getting her phone out and moving to stand behind them. Phil chuckled quietly as he saw the camera showing Dan, who looked adorable on his shoulder. 'This is probably gonna break the internet' he thought to himself, as the camera clicked and the girls moved off. He sat for a few more minutes checking his phone, until the 5 minute call for their plane sounded. He reached his hand up and ran his fingers through a curl of Dan's hair to try to wake him up, and laughed when Dan softly shook his head and groaned at him.

"Ge-off" He mumbled, raising his head from Phil's. Phil decided to take a big risk, and kissed him on the cheek quickly, hoping that the two girls had left since they'd come and hadn't seen them kiss. Not that anybody would believe it anyway.

Luckily enough for Phil, he was the kind of person who could just sleep anywhere, and a plane was no exception. As soon as they got through the initial turbulence, he plugged his headphones in and Dan put on an episode of 'Stranger Things' for them to watch. No sooner had the opening credits rolled than Phil was asleep, this time him leaning on Dan's shoulder instead of the other way round.

 

By the time they'd gotten into their flat, it was half four in the morning, yet due to jet-lag neither boys were sleepy yet. Phil dragged his luggage up the stairs, following Dan, and they stopped at the corridor that led to their rooms. Dan coughed awkwardly.

"Uhm, I was wondering if you wanted to like, unpack your stuff into my room?" Dan asked tentatively. "I mean- only if you want, I was thinking we could share a bit more stuff now and if you wanted to sleep in the same room then mine's probably a bit bigger an-" He was cut off by Phil kissing him, hard on the lips. "Okay."

"If you want to get me into your bed, you could just say!" He teased, smirking as Dan blushed and tried to insist that wasn't what he meant. "Shut up, you're talking too much."

Travel bags abandoned, both boys stumbled into Dan's room. Maybe they'd do their unpacking tomorrow morning instead of right away.

*********

_20th October, 2017_

_A photo of Martyn on one knee with Cornelia in front of him with her hands around her head, the Paris skyline behind them._

_Martyn Lester tweeted: "She said yes!"_

 

_AmazingPhil replied: "Congratulations to both of you, welcome to the official Lester family Corn-dog! A little bitter you won our childhood argument about who would get married first though!"_

_DanielHowell liked a tweet: "@AmazingPhil smh you should've asked Dan to marry you before if you wanted to beat your brother!"_

 

*********

_4th February 2018_

_Three photos, the fist of Phil, Martyn, Cornelia and Dan at in formal attire, smiling as Cornelia holds up her hand to show her ring to the camera. The second of the Lester family, Corelia included in her wedding dress. The third is one Phil's Dad got of Dan and Phil slow dancing, staring into each others eyes and Dan's grin wide and full of dimple._

_AmazingPhil tweeted: "Very happy for Cornelia to join our family, congratulations to the happy couple (we're not talking about Dan and I here!)"_

 

_DanielHowell replied: "Are you saying we're not a happy couple? Rude!"_

 

*********

_5th April 2018_

_A simple photo of two pairs of hands, with two gold bands on two of the ring fingers. The other hands are intertwined._

_DanielHowell tweeted: "It only took 8 years"_

 

_TylerOakley replied: "ASKFJDJF I CANNOT BELIEVE YOU TWO ARE FINALLY GETTING MARRIED THERE BETTER BE ENOUGH BOOZE AT YOUR WEDDING, I'M GONNA OWN THE PLACE"_

 

_LouisePentland replied: "OMG congratulations guys! I can't believe it took you this long!"_

 

 _DanielHowell replied: "_ _@LouisePentland trust me, I wasn't the one who took 8 years out of us two! I think this just about makes me forgive him though"_

 

*********

_15th November 2018_

_DanielLester tweeted: "No this isn't a Phan account, I just thought I'd update my username to bear my_ proper _name"_

 

_iamcornelia replied: "welcome to the family!"_

 

And maybe if Phil had got his head out of his arse a little earlier, they might have been getting married a lot earlier. But Dan couldn't think of anything he would trade to change the past few months of his life.


End file.
